Procycling brings you the colour, action and drama of the world's most spectacular sport in a glossy and dynamic magazine. It's the authoritative, worldwide voice of international professional road racing, distributed in every country where there are English-speaking fans. With exclusive features and spectacular photography, Procycling brings to life the complexities, rivalries and hardships of the European professional scene.

Cycling Plus is the manual for the modern road cyclist. Whether you're cycling weekly, an occasional new rider or a Tour de France fan you’ll find everything you need. Every issue is packed with expert reviews of the latest road bikes and gear, inspirational routes and rides, evocative features that take you inside every aspect of cycling and unmatched nutrition, fitness and training advice.

What Mountain Bike is the magazine that gets to the heart of what matters in mountain biking. Whether it’s new bikes, fresh kit, inspiring photography or the low down on the latest trail developments, What Mountain Bike has something for every rider. Our team cuts through jargon and marketing spin to tell you what you need to know, with honest, informed opinions and a wealth of experience.

Mountain Biking UK celebrates everything that is great about mountain biking, enabling people of all abilities and ages to have a better time on their bike. MBUK brings you all the latest news, coolest kit, plus exclusive info on the newest and best bikes that you can buy.

Health: Insoles can be crucial for comfort and performance

Find your perfect sole mates

Find your perfect sole mates

(ISTOCKPHOTO)

Walking and running come naturally to us but pedalling isn’t a normal state of affairs. “Our feet work by our arches collapsing and energy being stored like a leaf-spring,” says Sean Madsen, a biomechanist at the Boulder Center for Sports Medicine in Colorado and an expert in Specialized’s Body Geometry (BG).

“That energy is returned during the push-off, when we propel forward. None of that happens with cycling. Riding is a forefoot oriented activity, meaning the arch collapses and stores energy precisely at the point when we want to deliver it.”

This is what makes an insole a useful tool for providing support to your arches. “It provides stability to the foot and allows the best possible power transfer,” says Madsen. “BG insoles have three levels of arch support. This is to accommodate the variety of arches out in the general population.” Red insoles are the lowest, blue are mid-height and green are the highest.

“Blues are the most common arch height,” says Madsen. This doesn’t come as a surprise; most of the population have Rectus arches, somewhere between ﬂat (Planus) and high ones (Cavus). “The insoles have a metatarsal button for spreading the metatarsal heads, which are the ends of the bones that connect to the toes. This helps to reduce the incidences of hot foot and numbness.”

As well as the insoles, you can also get a varus wedge to correct forefoot varus, which Madsen says affects up to 90 percent of the population. “Forefoot varus is a condition in which the big toe is elevated over the little toe when the foot is unweighted, meaning the front half of the foot rotates outwards,” explains Madsen.

“In cycling we need the front half of the foot to rotate inwards to make contact with the insole and apply power to the pedal. Therefore, forefoot varus can cause a loss of power, and injuries to the knee due to excessive internal rotation of the tibia.” A varus wedge can counterbalance this by angling the foot, bringing it into contact with the pedal and stopping rotational movement of the knee.

A study published in 2003 takes the claim for insoles even further, stating that they don’t just prevent injury and make you more efﬁcient through positioning but can also cause a reduction of blood lactate levels and an increase in time to exhaustion. “The goals of insoles are capturing the arch, improved stability at the foot and increased power transfer,” says Madsen. “Find out your foot shape and arch height by drawing around your feet or, more accurately, going to see a specialist, and see the difference proper insoles can make to your ride.”